Can Google TV do what so many have failed at?

Google TV just stepped into the limelight. The news arrived during Google's I/O conference in San Francisco today. This much-anticipated service marks yet another step by Google out of PCs and into the rest of people's lives.

Its plan is simple: Deliver the online video, features, and websites that we enjoy on our desktop screens and deliver it all to our TV screens. But history shows that connecting those two ecosystems – or at least convincing shoppers that they need such a union – is a lot harder than it sounds.

Second, Google seems willing to play well with others. The company's announcement gave visual or explicit nods to Microsoft, Netflix, Adobe Flash, the NBA, Pandora, Amazon, and Hulu.

That last name is huge for two reasons. Streaming Hulu on your TV is the next best thing to a DVR – possibly better since you can watch old programs that you didn't think to record. But perhaps more important is that Hulu has previously shut down services that delivered its videos on a TV. The Sony PS3 once allowed you to watch Hulu shows; then the Web company killed the feature. If Hulu is part of Google TV, as today's keynote suggested, it shows that Google is ready to cut interesting deals and pull in reluctant companies. That bodes well for the service as a whole.